Chapter 146: Dance of Steel

Lianan still wore a proper, poised smile at the corners of her lips, yet the spark of excitement in her eyes resembled that of a naughty child who had just received a new toy. With her hands clasped behind her back, she softly chanted an incantation. The two daggers tucked obliquely into her waist seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand, automatically leaping out of their sheaths and circling her in mid-air as they hovered and spun.

While maintaining his spellcasting concentration, Qiao An simultaneously tried to identify the spell Lianan had just cast. Unfortunately, his arcane knowledge was not yet profound enough, and spells capable of telekinetically controlling weapons were far more numerous than just one or two. He was temporarily unable to determine precisely what spell Lianan was using to manipulate those two daggers. The only certainty was that this spell's level was undoubtedly higher than "Greater Mage Hand," as "Greater Mage Hand" could never telekinetically control two daggers simultaneously.

Just as Qiao An was pondering this, Lianan let out a whistle. The two daggers, which had been orbiting her like butterflies, seemed to receive a command and shot back toward Qiao An, their gleaming blades tearing through the air with a shrill whistle that made his scalp tingle.

Qiao An hurriedly concentrated all his mental focus on telekinetically controlling the "Lightning Blade" to parry the dagger flying from the opposite direction. As for the other dagger, he had no choice but to rely on his "Flash Shield" for defense.

Qiao An and Lianan stood facing each other at a distance of about thirty feet. The three sharp blades engaged in mid-air right between them, sparking continuously as the sound of clashing metal rang out without interruption. With only a single dagger, Qiao An was already at a severe disadvantage fighting two, and his technique in telekinetically controlling the weapon appeared somewhat clumsy compared to Lianan's. He was forced to repeatedly raise his shield to parry the flying blades breaking through his defense from left and right. Lianan, however, maintained her elegant posture with her hands behind her back, a captivating smile lingering at the corners of her lips. Only the brilliant flashes continuously welling up from the depths of her tea-colored eyes revealed that this contest was not as effortless for her as it appeared on the surface.

Lianan suddenly took a step forward. As the distance between them closed, the offensive momentum of the pair of daggers she controlled grew even more ferocious, forcing Qiao An to retreat and dodge, beads of sweat densely forming on his forehead.

Thus the two advanced and retreated, with Lianan pressing forward step by step while Qiao An stumbled backward in evasion. The smile on Lianan's face grew increasingly peculiar, as if she were brewing a wonderful prank. This smile made Qiao An's spine crawl, making him realize that he was likely walking straight into a trap. Throwing a hasty glance behind him, he saw that sure enough, not far away was the splashing water of the spring. If he retreated two more steps, he would stumble into the water and become a "drowned rat."

Having seen through Lianan's intentions, Qiao An naturally refused to fall for it and spun around to dodge to the side.

Lianan twitched the corners of her mouth in disappointment, using telekinesis to make the twin blades give chase to Qiao An. The leading dagger was once again intercepted by the Lightning Blade, snapping cleanly into two pieces with a crisp *clang*. This completely caught Lianan off guard, causing her to freeze for a moment.

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Qiao An poured all his strength into his telekinetic control of the Lightning Blade, slashing toward the other dagger suspended in the air. With another sharp clash of metal, Lianan's second dagger was also cut straight through the middle by the Lightning Blade.

Lianan knitted her brows in displeasure. Waving her hand to dismiss the spell, she let the two broken blades drop onto the grass, walked straight toward Qiao An, and extended her fair, delicate hand to him.

Guessing her intent, Qiao An hesitated slightly before handing the Lightning Blade over.

Lianan took the Lightning Blade, gazed at it in fascination, and softly said, "This dagger is quite nice, sharper than my two blades, and it even seems to be enchanted with an electric spell?"

Qiao An nodded in acknowledgment, his face full of apology as he explained that he had not intentionally destroyed her two expensive, finely crafted daggers.

Lianan glanced at him and said indifferently, "First my servant, the water-wight, was 'accidentally' killed by you, and then my two daggers were successively 'accidentally' chopped in half by you. There really are quite a few coincidences happening to you."

Qiao An's face flushed red, not knowing how to respond to her teasing, so he was forced to forcibly change the subject, "I lost just now. My skill in telekinetically controlling daggers is far inferior to yours."

"'Dance of Steel' is a 3rd-level spell. What is there to be proud of in surpassing your 1st-level 'Greater Mage Hand'?" Lianan self-deprecatingly shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, 'Dance of Steel' cannot be maintained indefinitely; within a few minutes, the daggers will lose control and drop to the ground. On the contrary, as long as you maintain your concentration, your spell can keep telekinetically controlling a dagger in battle. When you don't need to divert your focus to cast other spells, it is actually more practical than 'Dance of Steel'."

Qiao An thought about it earnestly and felt that Lianan's analysis of the pros and cons of the two spells was very insightful. He silently committed the advantages and shortcomings of "Dance of Steel" to memory; perhaps he would also have the opportunity to learn this spell in the future.

Lianan fondly toyed with the Lightning Blade, then suddenly looked up and flashed Qiao An an exceptionally charming smile.

"Little mage, I want to make a deal with you."

"What deal?"

"I'll trade a blessing—a blessing that can bring you enormous benefits—for your dagger. How about it?"

Qiao An hesitated for a moment, unable to suppress his curiosity as he asked Lianan, "What kind of benefits can the 'blessing' you mentioned actually bring me?"

"It's a bit complicated to explain in detail. If you accept my blessing, you will need to assist me in performing a small ritual and establishing a pact. After that, I will inject a portion of my own power into your body, greatly enhancing your spellcasting capabilities." Behind Lianan's amiable smile lurked temptation. "After accepting my blessing, you will automatically gain 6 points of mana every morning. Each point of mana is equivalent to a 1st-level spell slot. You can freely combine these mana points—for instance, using them as three 2nd-level spell slots, two 3rd-level spell slots, one 2nd-level spell slot plus one 4th-level spell slot, or dedicating all the mana to substitute for a single 6th-level spell slot... Once you determine the mana combination, you can use this mana to cast any spell you have prepared, exactly the same as a normal spell slot!"

Qiao An was left dumbfounded upon hearing this. Excluding mythic power, he currently only had four 1st-level spell slots. Obtaining Lianan's blessing was equivalent to gaining an extra six 1st-level spell slots. Moreover, as he increased his mage level in the future, this mana originating from Lianan's blessing could also be used to substitute for 2nd-level, 3rd-level... all the way up to 6th-level spell slots. Just as Lianan had said, it could tremendously enhance his spellcasting ability.

Yet, could Lianan's words truly be trusted?

Although the Lightning Blade was a fine weapon, its value fell far short of the "blessing" Lianan described. Qiao An did not believe there was any such thing as a free lunch in this world. A chance acquaintance voluntarily offered to make a deal with him that resulted in an obvious loss for herself—wasn't that worthy of suspicion? Especially considering that the person making the deal with him was a beautiful and mysterious female fey, Qiao An faintly caught the scent of a conspiracy and a trap.

After a long period of deliberation, until Lianan was visibly growing impatient, Qiao An finally opened his mouth to reply.

"If you truly like the Lightning Blade, I can give it to you as compensation for the two daggers I damaged. As for your blessing... I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid I cannot afford to accept it."